conflict i conflicting intell because they wanted it not to interrupt the election. that one i have a hard time with. but the other one, video versus terrorism, that one i'm inter t interested in. why did you choose the path you did? >> i think people would like to know, what exactly happened and who was responsible at the end of the day? appreciate it. nice to have you all with us. cnn "newsroom" with carol costello begins right now. >> good morning, soledad. david petraeus answers questions before congress on ben gauzi and maybe the affair that ended his career. group of veterans, some wounded in iraq, are hit by a train and all during a parade in honor of them. now the feds are jumping in to investigate. and john mccain gets testy with a cnn producer when asked why he missed an important meeting about benghazi. >> i have no comments about my schedule, i'm not going to comment on how i spend my time to the media. >> wait until you get hit --

wait until you hear him get really angry. what do spirit airlines and shirtless fbi agent in the petraeus scandal have in common? just wait. we'll show you more. newsroom starts now. i piercing sound of an air raid station. it is a chilling sound, becoming all too familiar as rockets continue to fill the air over israel and gaza and a planned cease fire, visit to gaza by egypt's prime minister may not be holding up. senior international correspondent sarah sidner is in the middle of it all. she has more for you from gaza city. >> reporter: what is happening on both sides of the gaza/israel border looks and feels like war

to anyone who has to live with it, no matter what the governments on either side have declared. this is a small taste of what it fe felt like in gauza over a 24-hor period. >> that is exactly -- all right. i'm going to move out of the way and let you get a look here. i'm going to let you get a lock at what is going on. i can see the black smoke. it's difficult to capture on camera. you saw that flash. this is what we have been dealing with all day. we've also been dealing with -- i'm sorry, the power has just gone out. we have been dealing with power outages, wolf. this feels like war. it may not have been declared, but it feels like war to the civilians who live here. >> the booms and smoke from targeted air strikes from morning till night left more than a dozen people dead, including militants, women and children. and in southern israel, a window into what residents endured there when hundreds of rockets, shells and mortars flew over

from gaza. some were blown to bits by israel's iron dome missile defense system. others landed with deadly force. three people died in this apartment building after a rocket struck it. this is the worst fighting israel and gaza residents have seen in four years. if you listen to the government leaders from both sides of the border, life here may not return to normalcy for a while. >> no government would tolerate a situation where nearly a fifth of its people live under a constant barrage of rockets and missile fire and israel will not tolerate the situation. this is why my government has instructed the israeli defense forces to conduct surgical strikes. >> reporter: and that's not all. israel's military said it was bringing in its reserves to prepare for the possibility of a ground war in gaza.

hamas' deputy foreign minister told cnn his government won't back down in the face of a threat either. >> they should not feel that it is an area that you can come and kill people and after that, you go home. you feel that if the people are not safe, your people in tel aviv will not be safe. >> reporter: sarah sidner, cnn, gaza city. >> and the fighting continues in gaza city. we'll talk more about that in just a minute. we want to bring you in live now to washington. you see peter king there, the republican. he just exited a hearing that david petraeus was testifying in. of course, surrounding what happened in benghazi, libya. let's listen to congressman king. >> the original talking points prepared by the cia were different from the ones that were finally put out. as far as general petraeus, his

testimony today was that from the start he had told us that this was a terrorist attack, terrorists involved from the start. my questions had a very different recollection of that, clear impression we were given is that the overwhelming amount of evidence is that it was -- rose out of a spontaneous demonstration and it was not a terrorist attack and pointed out the following week when matt olson said it was a terrorist attack and it made headlines because before then, the administration was saying it was not terrorists. it was very cordial, as you will. we all thanked him for his service. i think he has a different impression of the impressions he left on september 14th. >> mr. chairman, can you tell us whether or not his affair or security surrounding his affair came up at all? >> only in -- one question he

was asked at the start, did that have any impact on his testimony. he said no. >> how are the talking points different? >> the original talking points were with much more specific about -- and final ones were indicating extremists, al qaeda involvement. >> any idea why it was changed? >> they just said it goes through a long process, interagency process and when they come back that had been taken out. >> was that surprising, that things had been changed? >> he said at the time they didn't realize the full significance of that and that an unclassified statement this was acceptable. again it's still very vague. >> was it under oath? >> no. >> are you satisfied with the presentation he made today? >> i'm satisfied with the ultimate conclusion he reached. i told him i honestly disagree

with his recollection of what he told us on september 14th. >> what did he say about the affair with paula broadwell? >> no comment to that at all. >> did it make it hard to get past that, those selacious details have dominated the news, did that make it -- >> no. we mied maid it clear at the start that that would not be a focus of the questioning. ten seconds into it, that was off to the side. >> is there a reason why you all wanted to hear from him is because since he briefed you the first time, he went to libya. so he obviously had a bit of a trip report. >> yeah. >> is there anything you can tell us what he learned on the ground? >> that would be clsfied. clear lly they do not believe i was -- arose out of spontaneous demonstration and it was a terrorist attack. >> he said that straight up?

>> yes. it's ongoing. obviously the secretary of state, secretary of defense and also people at the white house changed their talking points. >> do you think you'll hear from him again on this and also the broadwell situation? >> one day at a time. >> could he provide any explanation at all as to why they came to that conclusion? was there no explanation? >> he was saying there's many streets of intelligence but all along he thought he made it clear that there was significant terrorist involvement. and that is not my recollection of what he told us on september 14th. >> how did he seem? did he seem tired or worn down from this -- sort of what's been plaguing him? >> no. strong soldier. very professional, very knowledgeable. very strong. again, spoke to him at the beginning of the hearing, end of the hearing. solid guy. i consider him a friend, which

made the questioning tough to be honest with you. >> why is that? >> how long did the testimony last? >> you said you considered him a friend and that made the questioning tough. >> sometimes in a hearing, the adrenaline is pumping, you're going back and forth. you realize there's a tragedy here and that he's going through an awful lot. on the other hand we have an obligation to find out what we could. it's a lot easier when you dislike the guy. you guys ask us questions. >> did he give any indication of how he felt about ambassador rice's testimony? >> he didn't watch the testimony. >> did he speak with her beforehand? >> no. >> the points that the cia gave the white house included al qaeda involvement and afterwards that was taken out? >> the cia. i don't know if it was with him -- the talking points were drafted were specific about al qaeda affiliations or al qaeda terrorist activities. they didn't have it in front of them. after it went through the process, whatever that process

is, which they seemed unclear about, that was taken out. >> how long did the hearing last? >> an hour and -- he had an opening statement about 20 minutes. so an hour and ten minutes of questions. >> was he asked about the statement that paula broadwell made at a speech? >> no. >> about the cia? >> no. >> are you saying the dni took it out or the administration took it out? >> again, i guess it's how you define the administration. it also went to the department of justice, state department. and i believe the national security council. >> did he talk about the films, videos and how -- >> yes. >> what did he say about those? >> i can't get into that. nothing controversial. >> did you guys watch any films today? >> no. we saw them yesterday. >> yesterday? senate intelligence? >> we saw them yesterday. >> did he say why it was taken out of the talking points? >> he didn't know. >> he didn't know? >> they were not involved. >> how could he not know? >> process was completed and they said okay go with those talking points.

i got the impression about seven, eight, nine different agencies. >> did he give you the impression he was upset it was taken out? >> no. >> the cia said okay to the revised reports? >> no. well, in that interim process they said it was okay to go. >> who did he say -- >> i don't know. >> who did he say he thinks committed the attack then? >> i would leave it at al qaeda affiliates. >> have him in the room a week after he resigned, under the circumstances in which he did? >> there was a certain amount of -- sure. obviously all of us in the room, and myself, have a great regard for him. i've known him for nine years now. i actually urged him to run for president a few years ago. went to dinner with him. i consider him -- i know him fairly well. a tragedy to a good person. tough to go through.

>> was there any discussion of the national security implications of his resignation? >> no. he just addressed in the beginning, he regretted what happened and that was basically it. >> were all members of the committee attending? >> as far as i know they were all there. >> was he involved in the actual decision making the night of the attack? >> i don't want to get into t t that, but he was definitely fully aware of what was going on, yeah. >> did he ask for military backup? >> i can't get into any of that. >> did he stick to the story that the first attack was spontaneous, but the second seemed more organized, the second attack may have -- >> spontaneous aspect is definitely minimized right now. it just is. it was primarily a terrorist attack. >> how about how -- i want to be careful about this. did he address how he interpreted the anti-muslim film and how that sort of got to be part of this discussion even though he downplayed it?

>> it was based on reports he was getting at the time. >> but that was part of what was going into this intelligence that they were creating? >> right. >> they got other information later that said this wasn't? >> yes, but also at the time, prior to september 14th, had clear information that this was strong involvement with al qaeda affiliates. and that was not made part of their presentation at the time. >> the former director was going to explain that he saw kind of two streams of intelligence, one suggesting maybe ansar al sharia was involved and maybe it was the protest from the anti-muslim video. is that the way he described it to you? >> did he but at the time he said he was also emphasizing the involvement of ansar al sharia and my recollection is that he was minimizing the role of ansar al sharia.

that's it. >> is the hearing over? >> yeah. >> we want to back up a little bit to let you know what's been going on. d disgraced cia director david petraeus has been testifying this morning in front of the house committee on benghazi. also on the agenda, was there a cove cover-up? did the general know from the get-go that the benghazi attack was terrorist related? you heard the date mentioned in that press conference, september 14th. it didn't seem like it on september 14th when the then cia director petraeus briefed lawmakers on what happened. here is how congressman dutch ruppersber gechlt r described that back in september. >> we had a meeting with director petraeus, giving us a chronological order exactly what we felt happened, how it happened and where we're going in the future. in the beginning we feel it was

spontaneous. the protest t went on for two or three hours, which was very relevant. if it was something that was planned, they could have come and attacked right away. >> according to the congressman king, that's not what petraeus said exactly today. cnn senior congressional correspondent dana bash, you were at that presser. fill us in. >> reporter: that's right. i think a couple of interesting things that we heard from congressman king. and that is the way that he, and frankly some other members of congress, received the information, the impression they got from the information the first time and only other time that general petraeus briefed them right after the attacks was that the more likely scenario was that this was violence resulting from demonstrations resulting from that anti-muslim video and that he mentioned the idea of extremists groups being involved but that that was minimized. that is not what petraeus cold

them behind closed doors. a difference of emphasis and a difference of memories on what the emphasis was. that was really -- it sounds like it's kind of in the weeds but it's really critical to this whole question you mentioned of cover-up or if they really did give the information immediately that they had on what they are concluding now, that there really was an extremist element involved and this was a planned attack. >> that leads us now to susan rice, the u.s. ambassador to the united nations who went on national television and said this attack in benghazi, libya, was probably because of this anti-muslim film. >> reporter: exactly. >> she had talking points, right? where did those talking points come from? did they come from petraeus and the cia, were they edited later by the white house, do we know? >> reporter: we don't know. you heard peter king was asked that specific question. according to him and some others, we still don't know exactly where the disconnect was, if you will, between what the intelligence community now

says that they believed at the time and the talking points that ended up with susan rice that ended up on television that sunday afterwards. it still doesn't seem to be very clear. the reason why he is now the former cia director is because of the affair that david petraeus had. he resigned one week ago. the question is whether or not that would come up at all. he said it was addressed at the beginning and he regretted what happened and that they didn't really address it at all after that. which i think is noteworthy. obviously there's a big elephant in the room when you have somebody like that come in a week after he resigns in disgrace. so i actually asked if it was awkward. he said sure, of course it was awkward. >> i can only imagine. if i heard peter king right he said the house hearings are over. now petraeus moves over to the senate hearings, right? >> and he should be there now.

there's a bit of a cat and mouse game going on. at this point, the cat is winning. in this sen cenario, we're the mice. he has been protected by the house and senate committees so far. we have tons of cameras around here. you can see some of the hubbub behind me at various doors to try to get a picture of him coming in, much less try to talk to him. they worked very hard to bring the former director in, in a secret way, talked to some police officers and others who had a sense of the movements and it was not an easy thing to bring him in without being seen. they did it and clearly did it on purpose. >> you heard peter king, dana. they're friends. they've had dinner together. he is well liked among lawmakers. maybe that's a bit of why. dana bash, thank you very much. we'll get back to you later. in the "newsroom," we'll talk about gaza. live pictures for you now. shells keep falling both in gaza city and israel. of -- fidelity.

now you don't have to go to a bank to get the things you want from a bank, like no-fee atms, all over the world. free checkwriting and mobile deposits. now depositing a check is as easy as taking a picture. free online bill payments. a highly acclaimed credit card with 2% cash back into your fidelity account. open a fidelity cash management account today and discover another reason serious investors are choosing fidelity.

[ gordon ] for some this line is a convenience. how you doing today? i'm good thanks. how are you? i'm good. [ gordon ] but for others, it's all they can afford. every day nearly nine million older americans don't have enough to eat. anything else? no, not today. join me, aarp, and aarp foundation in the drive to end hunger by visiting drivetoendhunger.org.

we led the news with this. markets continue to fall there. rockets also continuing to fall in israel. israel, actually, we saw pictoral evidence that israel is getting ready for a ground war. things are escalating there. what it might mean for israel and gaza but the united states as well. professor of history, nicholas burns was an undersecretary of state under president george w. bush. they join me now. welcome to both of you. nicholas, are you there? oh, good, there you are. i just wanted to make sure. ken, i wanted to start with you. >> yes. >> if israel decides to conduct a ground war, what might that mean? what would that look like? >> israel will only conduct a ground war if it feels its

civilians, christians, arabs, muslims and jews are not being bombarded. >> rockets have been falling the past two days, doesn't look like it's going to stop. so ground war? >> ground war possible. benjamin netanyahu said we're only interested in a surgical attack. that might go into something broader. whether they use aircraft, just ground forces remains to be seen. the goal, of course, is to stop the attack and stop the hitting of the israeli civilian population. >> nicholas, what does this mean to the wider region if israel decides to go ahead and conduct a ground war? >> well, the first thing i would say is that israel has a right to defend itself and hamas started this. that's the objective reality. firing rockets into southern israel for the better part of last week. and the israelis have tried to intercept those. you have the extraordinary

spectacle yesterday of missiles being launched into tel aviv. the obama administration has been supportive of israel. you've seen a lot of condemnation of israel by the nonalign movement led by iran. you would expect iran to twist the facts here. it will be a problem for the wider region if there is a war in gaza, obviously. it brings in the uneasy peace between egypt and israel, camp david accords we shepherded in 1979. egyptian prime minister is in gaza today. there's a three-hour truce. israelis have agreed not to strike while the prime minister is there. the israelis have been very careful to say publicly we want to maintain the peace treaty with egypt. i don't think the egyptians or hamas should be under any delusions here, if hamas rockets continue to be fired into israel, israelis have the responsibility to protect their population. >> egypt has reached out to president obama and the united states saying help us stop the violence there.

so, ken, the united states is going to get sucked into this, regardless? >> no, i don't think the united states is going to get sucked in. they've provided weapons and air dome to prevent rockets from coming in. i think the united states is much more interested in what impact will hamas' success or failure have upon the rest of the region. here, we have to think about jordan and king abdullah's instability. i think we worry about insurgencies in general, hezbollah and hamas. hezbollah, if it felt that hamas was successful, would it start something from the north? and i think israel, over the broader perspective, is very interested in being sure that hamas is put back on its heels and not able to attack israel. that becomes very important for israel in the long run if it decides some time in the future it wants to go after iran. it would be worried about retaliation and it certainly

doesn't want it from the south, which would be hamas and certainly from the north, from hezbollah. there is the immediate israel versus hamas. there's a broad er of hamas' success or not success and what israel might do some time down the road. >> nicholas, you've been involved in these kinds of things. surely there's some, you know, quiet negotiating go iing on between the united states and israel to calm things down or am i wrong about that? >> i think the obama administration has rightfully been supportive of israel. what the administration is clearly trying to do is enlist the support of arab states. i would think that qatar would be one of thechl. just in gaza ten days aing to convince the arab states to get on with hamas and convince them to pull back because hamas is going to create a major problem if they continue these rocket attacks. the other thing that the israelis and americans are worried about, of course, is spill over from the syrian civil

war. you saw israeli tanks fired into syria because syria had been lobing rockets into northern israel, maybe going after rebel groups and misfiring. nonetheless, israel's sovereignty now has been assaulted both in the north and now in the southern part of israel bordering gaza. it's a very, very difficult strategic situation for israel in the midst of this turbulence in the arab world. >> you're not kidding. button it up for us, ken. >> we have to be careful about suggesting that the egyptians will want to break the treaty between israel and egypt. there's a lot in it for egypt. mr. morsi has to be a pragmatist. he knows he can't alienate the united states. he may want to impose a measure of islamism. >> thanks so much for enlightening us.

we appreciate it. >> thank you. we'll take a quick break and be back with much more in the newsroom. meet the 5-passenger ford c-max hybrid. when you're carrying a lot of weight, c-max has a nice little trait, you see, c-max helps you load your freight, with its foot-activated lift gate. but that's not all you'll see, cause c-max also beats prius v, with better mpg. say hi to the all-new 47 combined mpg c-max hybrid.

30 minutes past the hour.

good morning, i'm carol costello. former cia director david petraeus testifying on capitol hill about the deadly attacks in benghazi, talking about what he knew and when. the firestorm over benghazi, it just keeps getting more splo explosive. here are members of the house foreign affairs committee in a briefing on the attacks yesterday. >> what is clear is that this administration, including the president himself, has intentionally misinformed -- read that lied to the american people in the aftermath of this tragedy. >> a quarter of a billion dollars in security upgrades that you refused to make in this committee, and then you have the audacity to come here and say why wasn't the protection of these people provided for? and the answer is because you damn didn't provide it! >> that's the backdrop to

hearings today that include the disgrace ed cia director david petraeus who said this morning that he knew almost immediately that the benghazi attack was not a spontaneous event but terrorist related. what will come of all of this? maria cardona, a democratic strategist. welcome to both of you. >> thank you. >> this is so complicated. ron, i don't know if you heard peter king, but general petraeus, he said as he testified before the house committee knew almost immediately that the attack in benghazi was terrorist related and not connected to that anti-muslim film. what does that say to you? >> well, it says that this issue is even more confusing than we thought. you had more than 20 intelligence reports that related the attack to that anti-muslim video that created worldwide outrage.

now our former cia director, swren general petraeus, saying it was towelly a terrorist group and he knew and he had -- he knew about that. that's amazing because that was not what we were led to believe. that's why i think it's very important that the house and senate intelligence committee talk to him, get down in the weeds and start asking the important questions to find out what went wrong. where is the disconnect here? >> let's talk about that disconnect, maria. you heard that republican congressman call president obama a liar. is he right? >> no. and that is absolutely outrageous, carol. and i think that is what is leading to this kind of protracted and ugly fight, which is exactly what the american people did not want coming out of this election. they wanted their leaders to work together and on something as important as benghazi, i think that every party leader needs to understand that they should dial it down a notch and

really feg out what happened here. we're talking about the deaths of four americans. we're talking about an ten intelligence community that is under fire. that should be important to both parties. and ei agree with ron, we need o figure out what the cia knew, what general petraeus knew. it also goes to susan rice, ambassador rice and what she said, which came directly from the talking points that the intelligence community put together for her. so we all need to step back and really work together to figure out what happened here. >> the strange thing, if general petraeus is to blame when he was cia director, he's already gone. you can't exactly fire him, ron. >> no, that's absolutely right. but let's look at the back drive here. it was the election of the -- the presidential election here. we have talking points provided to susan rice by the intelligence community, but the intelligence community is saying

those talking points were changed. they had that al qaeda-like elements attacked the embassy. that detail was taken out of her talking points by someone over at the white house or someone close to the white house. when she got on the air, those are completely different talking points and that's what we're talking about. that's why we need to get to the bottom of this to find out who changed the story? why did the story change? >> we'll find out, hopefully, after these three hearings. ron bonjean and maria cardona, thank you. why is john mccain so testy? he explains, next. [ camera clicks ] ♪ it's hard to resist the craveable nature of a nature valley sweet & salty nut bar.

disgraced former cia director david petraeus still in the hot seat this morning now in a senate committee hearing answering questions about benghazi, what exactly happened? when did he know that it was an

attack that had nothing to do with that anti-muslim film? peter king, republican congressman who belongs to the house homeland security committee, to make it clear for you. he came out of those hearings early this morning and here is what he had to say about petraeus' testimony. okay. we'll get to that a little bit later. we'll have peter king for you later on in "newsroom." cnn has learned that many republican senators who have been demanding answers in the benghazi attacks skipped an important top secret broefi ibry white house officials yesterday, including one of the most critical opponents, john mccain, watergate style investigation into benghazi. when asked why he missed the meeting, mccain went off. >> i have no comments about my schedule. i'm not going to comment on how i spend my time to the media.

>> i mean is there. >> i will not have no further comment. sfwl i have no comments about my -- i have no further comment. how many times do i have to say it. >> why can't you comment about that? >> why can't i? because i have the right as a senator. i have no comment. and who the hell are you to tell me whether i can or not? >> the thing that was amusing about it, it's not a big deal. but i said i have no comment and he said you can't have no comment. >> i said what? i can't have no comment? since when, you know. but, look, these back and forth things happen. these guys follow you around. reporters follow you around. they have your job to do. sometimes i'm nice to them and sometimes i tell them to take a hike. >> mccain also explained it was a scheduling error and he said he attended a different briefing later on benghazi. he also pointed out that he's on three of the four committees that are investigating what happened in libya. so, what do spirit airlines

and that shirtless fbi agent in the petraeus scandal have in common? we'll show you. ♪ [ male announcer ] you build a reputation by not breaking down. consider the silverado 1500 -- still the most dependable, longest-lasting full-size pickups on the road. and now we've also been recognized for lowest total cost of ownership -- based on important things, like depreciation, fuel, and maintenance costs. and now trade up

to get a 2012 chevy silverado all-star edition with a total value of $9,000. from outstanding value to standing the test of time, chevy runs deep. how they'll live tomorrow. for more than 116 years, ameriprise financial has worked for their clients' futures. helping millions of americans retire on their terms. when they want. where they want. doing what they want. ameriprise. the strength of a leader in retirement planning. the heart of 10,000 advisors working with you one-to-one. together for your future. ♪

so that shirtless fbi agent who found himself smack dab in the petraeus scandal has something in common with spirit airlines. alison kosik is at the new york stock exchange to explain it all. >> nothing like a half naked guy to help you sell your tickets, right? spirit airlines is dovetailing that half naked fbi guy into this promotion it has saying don't lose your shirt on high fares, promoting it's $29.80 one-way fare include iing on thanksgiving. by spirit standards not so outrageous. they have hefty fees include in up to $50 for your carry-on, $15 booking fee, $17 usage fee and if you want to eat or drink anything on the plane, carol, better have your credit card

ready because you're going to pay for that stuff, too. >> it's a weird country we live in, isn't it? >> i know. how do you think half-naked fbi guy is spirit airlines? i don't get the connection but they clearly do. >> maybe the real shirtless fwie has another career in mind in the future. >> perhaps, yes. >> alison kosik, thanks so much. college coaches and a game on the court and a cause off it. we'll talk to two of best whose teams are playing in the coaches versus cancer classic. [ male announcer ] when it comes to the financial obstacles

military families face, we understand. at usaa, we know military life is different. we've been there. that's why every bit of financial advice we offer is geared specifically to current and former military members and their families. [ laughs ] dad! dad! [ applause ] ♪ [ male announcer ] life brings obstacles. usaa brings advice. call or visit us online. we're ready to help.

i identified so much as being a combat marine. i didn't think anything else outside the world would matter. people started noticing other talents of mine. i met charlie amber. he issued me a challenge. i want you to crow ate a story that can possibly be turned into

a musical. i had this idea, and the story being this oprah, fallujah. ♪ crawling in her sleep >> all of this comes from the experiences of my own life. i joined the marine corps because i was one of those young men that didn't have any goals in life. i thought i would be this kick-ass guy with kol machine guns on both hands and when i perceived to be war was what i took off the movies. that was before i got into the combat zone. when we got there, that's when everything changed. 2004, we were deployed to fallujah. i remember what we went through

was significant. oe it was intense. things the pain has been so intense, the guilt has been so extraordinary. it has been rough. i have dealt with suicide many times. it is going to be in your face and i did not realize this is what war was like. this is what veterans go through. this is what veterans experience on a day-to-day basis. this whole process from the beginning has helped me accept and calm a lot of the turmoil in my head. coming home is not easy at all.

coming home for any combat veteran is probably the most difficult thing they will ever have to do. i still struggle, struggle hard, but the best part is i do see that light. oh, let me guess --ou see this? more washington gridlock. no, it's worse -- look, our taxes are about to go up. not the taxes on our dividends though, right? that's a big part of our retirement. oh, no, it's dividends, too. the rate on our dividends would more than double. but we depend on our dividends to help pay our bills. we worked hard to save. well, the president and congress have got to work together to stop this dividend tax hike. before it's too late.

tonight's college doubleheader on the hard court of brooklyn's barclays center will have a purpose beyond basketball. the coaches versus cancer classic features a semifinal round with a championship and

consolation game tomorrow night. you can watch all the action on trutv. byu and florida state tip-off at 7 p.m. eastern and later notre dame takes on st. joseph's and their head coaches join us now. welcome, gentlemen. we're so glad you're here. >> thank you. >> good morning. good to be with you. >> great to have you here. your teams are playing each other, but you also have a common enemy. i would like each of you to tell us you how you have been touched by cancer. start with you, mike. >> my father had a malignant melanoma in the mid-'90s and it opened my eyes to this whole cancer battle. when i got the job at the university of delaware as the head coach we started a program there and then since we have been at things here at notre dame it has been very powerful. two of my starters tonight have fathers, one scott martin's father is battling cancer as we speak, and my point guard eric atkins father passed away from prostate conference when he was in tenth grade. it touches close to the heart for me. >> sure does.

phil, how about you? >> well, i was fortunate not to have it in my family, but the coach that hired me at st. joseph's, jim boyle, he literally fought it for seven months and it wasn't just him that fought it. every member of his family, every former player of his, every business colleague, and it just wears you out, but it also gives you the belief that we're doing something bigger here than playing a basketball game. >> absolutely. coaches versus cancer has raised a whopping $85 million to fund research and provide services. how can people watching tonight's game contribute, mike? >> well, the local american cancer society and nationally has been so involved with this, there is going to be things throughout the broadcast tonight in both games where how you can get involved and we just want to raise awareness and battle this thing and the one thing about it, the stats say we're making great progress in beating this thing and now is the time to

raise more money and keep the pressure onto maybe find a cure for this dreaded disease. >> when we think of a coach fighting cancer, we think of the late jim volgano. tell us what kind of inspiration he fulfilled. >> the v foundation, they have just capitalized on the passion and the fire that jim valvano brought. in our situation with coaches versus cancer norm stewart and jim calhoun, all of these guys, they're not just survivors, they're heroes. everybody out there, you will meet somebody today that said i beat it. we would like that toughness on our team. all of these people that have faced this and stared this right in the eye and said, you know what, i can beat this, we would like to pass that onto our players. >> terrific. okay. i have to turn our attention to basketball now. i will address you as coaches. coach bray, you have been highly successful at a school known for its football team especially

this year. how has enthusiasm for oath notre dame basketball changed since you came? >> we have been on a great roll. we have been very consistent, especially the last six years and have become a key player in the big east and we venture into the acc. i love our group this year. we have a lot of returning veterans off a team that won 22 games. it is an exciting time. this is a great test this weekend and phil's team is very talented. this is a great match up tonight. >> nice to see you sitting there calmly next to one another. thank you so much. notre dame coach mike bray and phil martelly, we appreciate it. >> thank you. >> reminder, you can watch tonight's games on trutv starting at 7 p.m. eastern. the next hour of "cnn newsroom" starts in two minutes. i don't spend money

on gasoline. i am probably going to the gas station about once a month. last time i was at a gas station was about...i would say... two months ago. i very rarely put gas in my chevy volt. i go to the gas station such a small amount that i forget how to put gas in my car. [ male announcer ] and it's not just these owners giving the volt high praise. volt received the j.d. power and associates appeal award two years in a row. ♪ a regular guy with an irregular heartbeat. the usual, bob? not today. [ male announcer ] bob has afib: atrial fibrillation not caused by a heart valve problem, a condition that puts him at greater risk for a stroke.

[ gps ] turn left. i don't think so. [ male announcer ] for years, bob took warfarin, and made a monthly trip to the clinic to get his blood tested. but not anymore. bob's doctor recommended a different option: once-a-day xarelto®. xarelto® is the first and only once-a-day prescription blood thinner for patients with afib not caused by a heart valve problem, that doesn't require routine blood monitoring. like warfarin, xarelto® is proven effective to reduce the risk of an afib-related stroke. there is limited data on how these drugs compare when warfarin is well managed. no routine blood monitoring means bob can spend his extra time however he likes. new zealand! xarelto® is just one pill a day, taken with the evening meal. and with no dietary restrictions, bob can eat the healthy foods he likes. do not stop taking xarelto® rivaroxaban without talking to the doctor who prescribes it for you. stopping may increase your risk of having a stroke. get medical help right away if you develop any signs or symptoms of bleeding,

like unusual bruising or tingling. you may have a higher risk of bleeding if you take xarelto® with aspirin products, nsaids or blood thinners. talk to your doctor before taking xarelto® if you currently have abnormal bleeding. xarelto® can cause bleeding, which can be serious, and rarely may lead to death. you are likely to bruise more easily on xarelto®, and it may take longer for bleeding to stop. tell your doctors you are taking xarelto® before any planned medical or dental procedures. before starting xarelto®, tell your doctor about any conditions, such as kidney, liver or bleeding problems. ready to change your routine? ask your doctor about once-a-day xarelto®. for more information including cost support options, call 1-888-xarelto or visit goxarelto.com. stories we're watching in the newsroom, the former

director of the cia is grilled by lawmakers on capitol hill. what did petraeus know about that deadly attack in benghazi and when did he know it? a group of veterans, some wounded in iraq, are hit by a train during a parade to honor them. now the feds are jumping in to investigate. it is a scam, a new virus hitting computers may have you thinking the fbi is after you and all you have to do is pay to make the agents go away. bad news for the lovers of the iconic twinkie, and other goodies, the company is shutting down. we'll tell you what it means for you and your sweet tooth. newsroom starts now. good morning, happy friday to you. i am carol costello. david petraeus is on capitol hill right now answering questions from the senate intelligence committee on the attacks in benghazi. specifically what the cia knew and when. petraeus testified in front of a house committee earlier this

morning. peter king was there and he came out of that committee meeting and here is what he said. >> general petraeus' testimony today was from the start he had told us this was a terrorist attack or terrorist-involved from the start. i told him my questions had a different recollection of that and the clear impression given was that the overwhelming matter of evidence is that it was a arose out of a spontaneous demonstration and was not a terrorist attack. and it pointed out the following week when matt olsen said it was a terrorist attack and made headlines because until then the administration was saying it was not terrorists. it was very cordial if you will. general petraeus is now standing patriot. we shook hands before and afterwards. we all thanked him for his service, but he i think has a different impression of the impression he left on september 14th. >> different impressions than

the impressions he left. senior congressional correspondent dana bash joins me from capitol hill. the bottom line, if petraeus knew the attacks in benghazi were terrorist related almost immediately, why didn't the american people know that? >> that really is the question. it seems trying to piece together what the lawmakers coming out are saying is the different between what was classified at the time and what was allowed to be declassified and allowed to be spoken about bio officials in public. just moments ago the democratic vice chair of the house intelligence committee came out and said pretty much the opposite of what peter king said. i asked him about king saying that he remembers petraeus' initial testimony quite differently. he remembers petraeus downplaying the idea of it being this extremist group and ru ruthlisberger said that's not how i remember it.

talk about impressions, it is a good study in people hearing different things at different times. the bottom line, democrats still believe when you talk about the politics of this because it matters a lot here is that susan rice who is a u.n. ambassador that went on all the talk shows the sunday after the attack was right based on the testimony that i heard yesterday and what they just heard from david petraeus. listen to democrat adam shif. >> the assessment, the upclassified assessment was there best assessment and that could be provided publicly without compromising sources and methods, and the ambassador's statement tracked that unclassified assessment very precisely. so the ambassador statement provided the information that could be provided without providing classified information. >> david petraeus is still on capitol hill as far as we know.

he went from this house meeting here right across this visitors center where we are now underneath the capitol to the senate side where he is testifying and i say we believe because we don't know for sure. they're making every effort to keep him away from the public. no one has seen them. cass kafr us in down here. there are a lot of ways to get around. the people that provided him here and his protection are making sure, at least trying, that we don't see him and this isn't a media spectacle as one source told me. >> interesting. did anyone in those committee hearings this morning ask petraeus about his affair? >> the answer is yes. it was asked about by the chairman of the intelligence committee right at the beginning to get it out of the way. i asked peter king about that. listen to what he said. >> can you tell us whether or not his affair or the security surrounding his affair came up at all?

>> only -- one question he was asked at the start did that have any impact on his testimony and he said no. >> he said no. the other thing that we later heard is that there was no connection, he insisted, between his resignation and the whole controversy about what happened and what didn't happen in benghazi. we're told it was very quick, done at the beginning, and it was made very clear by the chairman that this is the one and only time this issue of his personal transgressions, of his resignation and what led to it would be addressed and that's it. >> dana bash reporting live from capitol hill. cnn learned many of the republicans senators demanding answers in the benghazi attacks skipped an important top secret briefing at the white house by the white house officials yesterday. that includes one of the most vocal critics, senator john mccain. at the time of the briefing mccain was holding a press conference to demand a watergate style investigation into, you guessed it, benghazi.

a cnn producer asked him why he missed that meeting, and mccain went off. >> i have no comments about my schedule and i'm not going to comment on how i spend my time to the media. >> i mean, is there -- >> no further comment. >> is there a legitimate -- >> i have no further comment. how many times do i have to comment? why can't i? because i have the right as a senator i have to comment and who the hell are you to tell me -- >> last night on cnn senator mccain explained that outburst to piers morgan. >> the thing amusing about it is it is not a big deal and he said -- i said i have no comment and he said you can't have no comment. i said what? i can't have no comment? since when? look, these back and forth things happen. these guys follow you around. reporters follow you around and they have their job to do and sometimes i am nice to them and sometimes i tell them to take a hike.

>> mccain also explained it was a scheduling error and said he attended a different briefing later and also point out he is on three or four committees investigating benghazi. this is breaking news. >> breaking news to tell you about coming out of jerusalem. just moments ago some kind of rocket fire occurred there and we saw smoke coming from the city of jerusalem. as you know, rocket fire has been exchanged between gaza city and israel for the past two days. there was supposed to be a cease-fire in place for two hours today because egyptian officials were visiting gaza city. apparently that did not happen. the violence has continued in earnest. when we figure out where the smoke is coming from in the holy city of jerusalem, we'll pass it along to you. back to the petraeus scandal and jill kelley coming under fire not just for her role in the sex scandal that ended the career of david petraeus, what

exactly did she do for south korea as an honorary console and how did she get the position? paula hancocks has more from seoul, south korea. >> only an honorary con sul for the past three months and the foreign ministry says they're watching the situation very closely and if necessary her position will be reviewed. the basic job does not have any diplomatic privileges. what it entails is trying to enhance the relationship between south korea and the united states and we're told by the foreign ministry that kellie's role was to enhance the free trade agreement and promote this fta which came into effect back in march. it is an unpaid job although expenses of up to $3,000 a year can be claimed and as for how jill kelley got this position, the foreign ministry says that she was recommended by the former south korean ambassador

to the united states and that was then approved by the foreign ministry. they insist that this is protocol and everything was done by the book. paula hancocks, cnn, seoul. in the meantime, the other woman in the sex scandal, petraeus' former mistress, paula broadwell, has not been seen in public since the scandal broke. yesterday at her home in charlotte, north carolina, it was visited by an unidentified man and woman. they didn't speak to reporters camped out in front of the home as you can see. this visit comes just days after broadwell allowed her home to be searched by the fbi. a tragic ending to a parade meant to honor u.s. service members, wounded service members, a freight train crashed into a flatbed truck that was carrying wounded veterans through a parade route. four u.s. army sergeants were killed and 17 people were hurt and six of them are still in the hospital. witnesses describe the scene as horrific. >> i just saw people under the

train like dead. there was blood all over. >> it is pretty sad. >> it is very sad. i have said prayers for several people. >> federal authorities say they will investigate the crash. in just a few minutes president obama will meet with four of the most important leaders of congress at the white house. they will talk about his plan to avoid going over that so-called fiscal cliff. mr. obama has been working for three days to build support for his plan and our foreign affairs correspondent jill dougherty is at the white house. good morning, jill. >> carol. >> well, you're right, this is about to begin and we saw the motorcade of vice president biden come by. he is here and of course the four leaders of congress, two democrats, two republicans, and they're going to be meeting with the president trying to figure this out. i think he would have to say that on the president's side the focus and for everybody, really, is to get more revenue and how

do you do that? that's really the nub of the question. if you look at the president's side, there are three objectives, three important things for him to do. number one, if you want to get that more revenue, he says you have to protect the middle class. that means that those bush tax cuts should not expire for people, families that earn less than $250,000. then the next thing would be the wealthy must pay more. finally, he wants a deal. he wants a deal, mr. obama wants a deal, because after all he was re-elected, his legacy is now on the line, and also this is something that must be solved otherwise everybody, carol, at the end of the day, at the end of the year, will begin paying more taxes. those are the stakes. >> okay. well, we'll find out what happens later. jill dougherty live at the white house this morning. back to the middle east.

it may be inching closer to war as the crisis intensifies between israel and gaza. i told you moments ago there was smoke coming from the holy city of jerusalem. we're trying to figure out where it was coming from. let's talk with ben wedeman in the area. can you tell us more? >> reporter: i am in tel aviv on the coast and we understand from our bureau in jerusalem. the air raid sirens went off for quite some time and israeli channel 2 is reporting that more than one missile landed north of jerusalem and we don't have any information at this point about injuries or any damage that may have taken place. we were able to speak on the phone with a spokesman for the hamas movement who said that they indeed were the ones who fired that missile and this is significant because in the 2008 and 2009 war between hamas and israel no missiles reached that far. nothing in the area of jerusalem

which is 80 kilometers or about 50 miles from gaza. now, here in tel aviv earlier in the day, in fact, there were also a missile landed just off the coast on the beach and of course there were still people out here. many of the people in this area rushed into the kitchen of a nearby cafe and this is significant. certainly if israel is planning a ground incursion into gaza, these sort of events, missiles hitting the area of jerusalem and tel aviv provide something of ann impetus, justification, for a ground operation into gaza. carol. >> ben, you say that the palestinian missiles have never gone this far. i understand the palestinians got some weaponry from iran. may that factor into this? >> that could factor into it. we don't really know if these are iranian-made missiles or not. i have been in workshops in gaza

where they were making missiles and they were fairly crude compared to obviously missiles with a much, much longer range. keep in mind also that a lot of the weaponry, particularly shoulder-held antiaircraft rockets made their way from libya through egypt into gaza as well, so in terms of weaponry, it is clear that there is a significant upgrade of the weaponry available from whatever source to hamas in gaza and they're using it now. >> and of course one of the most frightening images we saw was israel preparing for that ground war, getting tanks into place, so what will not tipping point? is it going to be firing upon jerusalem? >> reporter: that's really sort of the question only senior officials in the israeli government could answer, but certainly if you just the significance of the fact that tel aviv and jerusalem, two cities that until now had never

come under rocket fire from gaza are now within range will obviously play a major role in any decision by the israeli military and political leadership to launch an offensive into gaza. >> ben wedeman reporting live from tel aviv. again, saw smoke rising from near the city of jerusalem. apparently the result of some rocket fired in or near the city. we're going to take a quick break and back with more after this. , unions, and peppers baked in a ketchup glaze with savory gravy and mashed russet potatoes. what makes stouffer's meatloaf best of all? that moment you enjoy it at home. stouffer's. let's fix dinner.

starts with arthritis pain and a choice. take tylenol or take aleve, the #1 recommended pain reliever by orthopedic doctors. just two aleve can keep pain away all day. back to the news.

and you pick the price that works for you. great. whoa, whoa, jamie. watch where you point that thing. [ mocking ] "watch where you point that thing." you point yours, i point mine. okay, l-let's stay calm. [ all shouting ] put it down! be cool! everybody, just be cool! does it price better on the side? no, it just looks cooler. the name your price tool, only from progressive. call or click today. i got you covered. thank you. oh, you're so welcome. disturbing breaking news out of jerusalem and israel. smoke coming from near the city, the first time this happened in the long conflict between the israelis and the palestinians. normally a rocket fired from the palestinian territories couldn't get that far. this time apparently maybe it did. that would have israel on extra high alert. as you know, rockets have been

going back and forth between israel and gaza city for two days now. israel says it is girding for some kind of ground war. we'll continue following the situation and take a quick break and go back to our people on the ground in the middle east. [ male announcer ] nature valley sweet & salty nut bars. ♪ [ camera clicks ] ♪ it's hard to resist the craveable nature of a nature valley sweet & salty nut bar. anyone have occasional constipation,

diarrhea, gas, bloating? yeah. one phillips' colon health probiotic cap each day helps defend against these digestive issues with three strains of good bacteria. approved! [ female announcer ] live the regular life. phillips'.

all right. there is a lot going on this morning. you're taking a look at the capital right now where the hearings with david petraeus are going on right now to find out what happened in benghazi, libya, to find out if petraeus knew almost immediately that it was a terrorist attack that it was terrorists who carried out the attack on the u.s. consulate in benghazi. also, at the white house president obama is now meeting with congressional leaders from both parties trying to avoid the fiscal cliff. the vice president also inside the meetings and they're hoping to come to some sort of agreement today. the president has been working for three days to push his plan. the biggest picture you see, those are the bright lights of jerusalem. not so long ago there was a plume of smoke coming from near the city of jerusalem. that has israelis on high alert because rocket fire has never

gone so far from the palestinian territories into the city of jerusalem. still trying to ferret out more information on this. when we get some we'll pass it along to you. turn our attention to other news this morning. traveling over the holidays, never fun, but it may be a piece of cake compared to what happens if we go over the fiscal cliff. the financial impact could devastate many of the nation's airports. >> this is air travel now. cut that by a billion dollars and it could ground millions of travelers. >> in the 56 years of the fa a's history, there has not been anything that has been as threatening as sequestration. >> the automatic spending cuts which may kick in after the first of the year would run deep for the faa. the aerospace industries association paints a doomsday scenario, 250 small airports may have to close and 1500 air traffic controllers laid off. a former faa administrator heads the lobby group. >> faa is not one of those

places that if you are looking for smart cuts, you would go. it is an operational agency, a safety agency, and you sure don't want to see cuts made there. it really does force us to look at the fact that we can see our system become a much diminished system operating on the schedules you're used to in the third world, not here. >> she says 9,000 tsa screeners could get pink slips. >> we have made a number of plans in the event that sequestration does go into effect. >> the head of the tsa says they could handle the potential cuts. >> the bottom line is keep the front line security operations in full force and keep the movement of people and goods moving smoothly. >> the airlines we talked with wouldn't share their doomsday plans referring us to a lobby group which said no one knows what might happen should sequestration occur. small comfort for the public looking to buy tickets.

>> what do you think that's going to do for the airline industry and airports and security here? >> oh, gosh, make everything a little more difficult. >> are you worried about that in terms of travel for yourself? >> yes, of course. travel and travel costs. >> i travel a lot, so anything that messes with it is a problem. >> so what's your message for congress? >> let's get together and figure this out. >> won't that be nice? sandra joins us now and the cuts could happen just as flyers return home from trips over the new years holiday. please say that is not true. >> yeah, unfortunately if the worst case scenario happens that will be true and right now industry leaders are taking a wait and see approach. congress, the lame duck congress, really has six weeks to figure out where that budget axe will fall. remember twinkies good old days? >> yahoo!

>> it is twinkie the kid. >> come onto hostess twinkie town. >> well, twinkie town could be no more. hostess, the company behind the classic treats say it is winding down operations and selling off its best known brands. alison kosik is at the new york stock exchange. are you hoarding twinkies yet? >> shhh, don't tell. i don't want anyone to get the ones i am getting out of the vending machine at this point. there is a serious side to this. this is kind of a saga unfolding all week, the ceo of host made it clear the company didn't have the money to survive a strike the bakers started last week. the company said we can't become profitable under the current cost structure mostly because the benefits and the pensions were costing too much and they couldn't reach a deal with the bakers union. guess what, this deadline of 5 p.m. yesterday came and went and now the company is asking permission to shut down all of its facilities and auction off its assets and that includes the iconic brands like twinkies,

wonder bread, drakes, which makes the ring dings and here is the serious side, 18,500 people, carol, out of jobs. they worked at facilities across the country, specifically 33 bakeries in 22 states and even protests going on outside an oakland, california, facility. this is certainly boiling the blood of a lot of people, those hostess cakes. >> so the company makes this announcement today. walk me through what happens next. >> okay. what hostess has done is asked for access to $75 million to fund this windown, and that includes money to pay off its employees it needs for liquidation and it will keep the distribution lines open long enough to get the last remaining product out to the stores so you still have your shot of getting those twinkies and keeping them on your shelf for a while. the brands by the way could survive because you have to believe that some big food maker will sort of ride in and go ahead and take over and go ahead and buy these brands at auction if they could be interested in them but consumers are bracing for the end of the twinkie.

would you believe it, carol, i already saw some boxes of twinkies show up on ebay but you know the good thing is with this stuff, they have a 20-year shelf life. if you catch a few boxes, you can hold them for quite a while. >> i don't think i have eaten a twinkie since i was ten years old. >> i know. i wonder -- everybody loves these but i know it is true. when was the last time i actually ate a twinkie? >> truly, i was asking around the newsroom to see if anyone still eats twinkies, and everybody said no but we would miss them. >> if you had them way back when, still probably in one way or another sitting in your stomach. >> still digesting. thanks so much. keeping a close eye on the white house where right now president obama is meeting with congressional leaders about that fiscal cliff. we're awaiting details of that meeting. americans are always ready to work hard for a better future. since ameriprise financial was founded back in 1894, they've been committed to putting clients first. helping generations through tough times. good times.

never taking a bailout. there when you need them. helping millions of americans over the centuries. the strength of a global financial leader. the heart of a one-to-one relationship. together for your future. ♪ he's going to apply testosterone to his underarm. axiron, the only underarm treatment for low t, can restore testosterone levels back to normal in most men. axiron is not for use in women or anyone younger than 18.

axiron can transfer to others through direct contact. women, especially those who are or who may become pregnant, and children should avoid contact where axiron is applied as unexpected signs of puberty in children or changes in body hair or increased acne in women may occur. we're heading to the white house where the president is meeting with law i can maers from different parties including the house speaker john boehner, the president, you can see him sitting there. let's listen to the president. thank them for their time and i think we're all aware that we have some urgent business to do. we have to make sure that taxes don't go up on middle class families and that our economy remains strong and creating jobs and that's an agenda that democrats and republicans and independents, people all across the country share.

our challenge is to make sure that we are able to cooperate together, work together, find some common ground, make some tough compromises and build some consensus to do the people's business and what folks are looking for and i think all of us agree on this is they want to see that we are focused on them and not focused on our politics. my hope is this is a fruitful process where we will come to agreement that will reduce our deficit in a balanced way. i want to thank the leadership for coming and with that wool get to work. thank you very much, everybody. wait, wait, excuse me, there is actually one other point that i

wanted to make. that is that my understanding is tomorrow's speaker boehner's birthday, so for those of you who want to wish him a happy birthday, we will -- we're not going to embarrass him with a cake because we didn't know how many candles were needed. >> yeah, right. >> we do want to wish him a happy birthday. >> thank you. >> a nice moment between the house speaker a republican and the president of the united states and joe biden around the table and harry reid and a couple of others. let's head to capitol hill and check in with dana bash. i want to ask you a question. are you surprised the president spoke before the meeting at the white house to avoid the fiscal cliff? >> i am not surprised at all. one of the main reasons is for the imagery and to show people

they're sitting down and trying to get this work done and behind closed doors probably best to assume this is really just going to be the opening gambit, the opening bid, really their chance to be eyeball to eyeball and discuss the things that they have said publicly for the past week and a half since the election and also want surprising the president went out of his way to say something personal and nice. the that is definitely the posturing that each side is doing. looking it up, i think the speaker is going to be 62 tomorrow. 63. 63 tomorrow. >> i am sure mr. boehner appreciates that, dana. just looking at their body language sitting around the table, they're all smiling awkwardly and trying to get along, so hopefully as the morning progresses, you know, the talks will be cordial and arrive at some sort of conclusion. do you have any hopes an actual plan will be developed from this

meeting? >> the bright lines over which neither side will cross will likely be established. the players have been very careful not to draw the bright lines in public, for example, the president now publicly at least has made clear that, yes, he promised during the campaign to raise those rates for those families making $250,000 or more but he is also in the next sentence said i am open if anybody has any other ideas to figuring out how to raise other tax revenue in order to achieve his goal which is deficit reduction, about a trillion dollars in deficit reduction. those kinds of lines and paramete parameters. >> dana bash, thank you so much. i know you're busy today. we appreciate you giving your insight. you spend a lot of time in congress and we value your

insights. >> thank you. >> we would like to have a political discussion right now. >> i think we should switch topics and talk about what's happening in the city of washington. i don't know, jason, have you caught what's happened this morning? general petraeus being sort of protected, the media can't get a picture of him walking into the hearings and peter king, even as he came out and talked about the hearings that took place this morning said petraeus was a good guy, a good friend and admired him. >> i don't think anyone is saying that petraeus is a bad person. he is just an unfaithful husband and irresponsible. i think that's the main issue. i think we got caught up in the salacious nature of all the

cheating and the scandals and the beautiful women and the exotic stories and the core issue was a man irresponsible and cheated on his wife and we wanted to hear about benghazi. i am not surprised the testimony is well received and still well respected. >> ron, are you surprised the general testified this morning according to congressman peter king he knew pretty much right away the attacks were terrorist related and not related to the cheesy anti-muslim film? >> i am not surprised he testified. he is well know and resigned his position because he had an extra marital affair so expected that he would testify he did and what it is doing is opening up questions here. why was there 20 intelligence reports based upon the video while general petraeus believed terrorist groups were involved and when he first heard about it he knew that.

definite disconnect and i think that's what the hearings are trying to do? i think they're trying to get to the bottom of it. >> susan rice has taken a lot of talk shows and told the nation these attacks were likely caused by this anti-muslim film. >> right. >> she was given talking points. we don't know by whom. where did those come from? >> this is an instance where the foot and the knee don't really know who is connecting to where. it is amacing and i don't know where eric cantor didn't push the issues further. this is clearly an example of the white house not communicating perfectly and even though he is going to defend susan rice. susan rice is somebody he wants to protect and push forward and no matter what kind of inconsistencies there are in her story or the white house story or the cia, barack obama is still pushing her for the position.

this story is not going to end any time soon. >> by the position you mean secretary of state. so let he me ask you this. if the hearings and there will be three of them, determine that susan rice was given the talking points by a credible source and the white house didn't edit them in any way and she is exonerated from all blame, will republicans be amenable to her maybe being a secretary of state? >> well, that's going to be up to the senate republicans and right now as the currently stands i doubt that she would end up getting confirmed. you have senators mccain and senators graham who are very concerned about the comments she made and i think we need to get answers before we move forward. susan rice was -- you look at the context. we're in a presidential election, and susan rice was using talking points altered potentially by the white house and that took the words, you know, that took the terrorist group attacks out of those talking points meaning that there could have been a coverup and we're trying to get to the

bottom of it. if she took out that phrase, that would be a huge problem for confirmation. >> jason, what do you think it is like to be susan rice these days? >> i think it is very difficult. look, barack obama has not always had an easy time pushing his nominees through, but think about it. not only is she in the middle of this benghazi scandal and people are going to be questioning whether she was honest or a show for the white house but you're following hillary clinton who has been one of the most popular and well-respected secretaries of state that we have had in the last 20 years. i think susan rice is in a difficult position and i am pretty sure john kerry is thinking this is my chance so i think it will be a rough couple of days for her and we may not know the answer until sometime later in december. >> thank you so much for joining us this morning. >> thank you. >> of course we're following that breaking news and monitoring jerusalem where the armed military wing of hamas says it launched rockets in an area south of the city. do we have the pictures up now? we don't. okay. we're going to gather the latest details from jerusalem in just a

minute. we'll be back. up an granite... so, how's it in person? i should send you a picture. floor to ceiling bookshelves... floor to ceiling bookshelves... original windows... original windows... and this... is that a... fireplace face -- yes, yes it is. fireplace shaped like a face. i know right! [ male announcer ] only at&t's network lets you talk and surf at the same time on your iphone 5. rethink possible.

[ male announcer ] a european-inspired suspension, but not from germany. ♪ a powerful, fuel-efficient engine, but it's not from japan. ♪ it's a car like no other... inspired by a place like no other. introducing the all-new 2013 chevrolet malibu, our greatest malibu ever. ♪ shopping fdon't wait. coverage? open enrollment ends december 7th. now's the time to take action. call unitedhealthcare today.

. computer users, be on the lookout. a new scam pretends to be a message from the fbi and demands money from you. it freezes your computer and telsz you it is linked to child pornography. if that is not scary enough, the virus may also be tracking every single move you make online. joining us now is an internet security analyst, ceo of his own online security firm and former u.s. prosecutor. wow. >> hi, carol. how are you doing? >> thank you for being here. this sounds like a really nasty virus. >> it is nasty. i have to tell you, if this was actually true, that you are getting an fbi morning saying pay $200 and get out of jail it would be a criminal's dream come true. here is the reality. it is what we're calling in our industry ransom wear. you get this fbi logo pop up and

freezes everything and says, hey, give us $200 or $100 and it all changes over time and you will get out of jail and you won't get prosecuted and unfortunately thousands of people are actually falling for it and sending money in to get out of jail even if they didn't do anything wrong. >> under no circumstances would the fbi ever say, oh, pay us money and you can get off. >> if they were doing that, they would be coming in through your front door and basically taking you to jail. they wouldn't reach out through the computer screen and say, here, give us money and we'll be on our way. >> the child pornography thing. >> right. right. great ways to protect yourself. >> tell me how people can protect themselves. >> one of the things that folks need to think about is you have to stop clicking on links that look suspicious. think like the real world. if it doesn't seem right, don't fall for it. even more important, run the latest antivirus and antifishing and antispyware software on your

system and update, update, update constantly. when you get the button that pops up when you're working on an e-mail or something that says update now or remind me later, i know we all do it. i know do you it and i do it. we hit remind me later and we never, ever, ever should hit remind me later. it is opening the front door to your house and saying come in and do what you want and that's what this virus is preying on, people that hit that button and don't lock down their systems and end up giving away money. >> that's the best prevention. press that button. >> exactly. >> thank you so much for joining us this morning. we appreciate it. >> thanks. >> we'll be right back. if you are one of the millions of men

who have used androgel 1%, there's big news. presenting androgel 1.62%. both are used to treat men with low testosterone. androgel 1.62% is from the makers of the number one prescribed testosterone replacement therapy. it raises your testosterone levels, and... is concentrated, so you could use less gel. and with androgel 1.62%, you can save on your monthly prescription. [ male announcer ] dosing and application sites between these products differ. women and children should avoid contact with application sites. discontinue androgel and call your doctor if you see unexpected signs of early puberty in a child, or, signs in a woman which may include changes in body hair or a large increase in acne, possibly due to accidental exposure.

men with breast cancer or who have or might have prostate cancer, and women who are, or may become pregnant or are breast feeding should not use androgel. serious side effects include worsening of an enlarged prostate, possible increased risk of prostate cancer, lower sperm count, swelling of ankles, feet, or body, enlarged or painful breasts, problems breathing during sleep, and blood clots in the legs. tell your doctor about your medical conditions and medications, especially insulin, corticosteroids, or medicines to decrease blood clotting. talk to your doctor today about androgel 1.62% so you can use less gel. log on now to androgeloffer.com and you could pay as little as ten dollars a month for androgel 1.62%. what are you waiting for? this is big news.

so much going on this morning. breaking news. we are monitoring jerusalem where the armed military of hamas launched rockets in an area south of jerusalem. the latest details in a minute. talks are under way on the budget crisis in washington. the president is talking with lawmakers about the fiscal cliff and meeting with top party members from the house and senate and spoke about the meeting moments ago. >> we have to make sure taxes don't go up on middle class families and the economy remains strong and we're creating jobs and that's an agenda that

democrats and republicans and independents people all across the country share. our challenge is to make sure that we are able to cooperate together, work together, find common ground and make tough compromises and build consensus to do the people's business. >> the meeting under way right now by the way. superstorm sandy's damage didn't have to be so bad. we'll look at why so many people lost power and what could be done to prevent a crisis again. you could also cut corners by making it without 100% real cheddar cheese. but then...it wouldn't be stouffer's mac & cheese. just one of over 70 satisfying recipes for one from stouffer's. what if there was a new that focused less on feesy and more... on what matters? maybe your bank account is taking too much time and maybe it's costing too much money. introducing bluebird

by american express and walmart. your alternative to checking and debit. it's loaded with features, not fees. because we think your money should stay where it belongs. with you. the value you expect. the service you deserve. it feels good to bluebird. get it at your local walmart. begins with back pain and a choice. take advil, and maybe have to take up to four in a day. or take aleve, which can relieve pain all day with just two pills. good eye. till you finish your vegetables. [ clock ticking ] [ male announcer ] there's a better way... v8 v-fusion. vegetable nutrition they need, fruit taste they love. could've had a v8.

or...try kids boxes! as part of a heart healthy diet. that's true. ...but you still have to go to the gym. ♪ the one and only, cheerios

...but you still have to go to the gym. try running four.ning a restaurant is hard, fortunately we've got ink. it gives us 5x the rewards on our internet, phone charges and cable, plus at office supply stores. rewards we put right back into our business. this is the only thing we've ever wanted to do and ink helps us do it. make your mark with ink from chase. been more than two weeks

after hurricane sandy hit and tens of thousands of homes are still without power. why did so many people lose electricity? what might be done to prevent a similar crisis in the future? >> what do we want? when do we want it? >> for all the angry people still without power after sandy, there may be few more frustrated than a man who lives hundreds of miles away with the american society of civil engineers. his name is otto lynch and he is certain the storm's impact did not have to be so bad. >> the damage did not have to be this bad at all. with a little bit better planning we could have certainly eliminated much of the damage. >> what he is talking about is the subject of some highly advanced research at georgia tech, a lowly but critical part of the electrical grid, the power pole. >> it is focused on trying to get a better understanding of the vulnerability of some of these wood poles as they are exposed to in this case extreme wind loads. >> specifically researchers are

studying what makes a power pole break? its age, the stress from wind, water, ice, or flying debris and combine all of that with weather patterns and they're creating a comprehensive map of tens of millions of poles so utility companies can replace vulnerable ones before big storms hit. >> it is important to identify which ones are the most compromised and how to direct those funds without wasting huge sums of unnecessary treatments and unnecessary replacements. >> others believe the national electrical safety code should also be rewritten to require more robust poles, especially where powerful storms are likely. lynch insisted it would cost less than $100 per pole and says if such measures had been put into place years before sandy came calling, he estimates power losses might have been half as bad. >> you know, even if it is just 25%, that's 25% less people that didn't lose power. >> and in a tough economy,

building up america begins with keeping the lights on. tom foreman, cnn, washington. [ female announcer ] imagine skin so healthy, it never gets dry again.

can your moisturizer do that? [ female announcer ] dermatologist recommended aveeno has an oat formula, now proven to build a moisture reserve, so skin can replenish itself. that's healthy skin for life. only from aveeno.

sadly, parenting doesn't come with a manual. for many parents the challenge of trial and error is the way to go. in daily dose tv's dr. phil tells parents how to make their job easier. >> you know, interestingly enough, the lazy parents are the busy parents because what we're really after is we want children to internalize our discipline. we want it to become self discipline. when i see a parent that has a well-behaved child, i know that that parent can kickback and take it easy and they don't need to be so busy because they did their work early. if a parent has not set boundaries f a parent has not tout a child to self-control, they're the ones that will be running through the restaurant, eating off other people's plates